A Mother's Memories

James Slater's mother, Maggie Eleanor Chiles Gibson (1869-1944), was a diligent record keeper and maintained a scrapbook with writings, newspaper clippings, and other print memorabilia documenting the Gibson family's life at Tuskegee University. 

In the scrapbook, she recalls family pets, stories of her children when they were small, and relentless (yet appropriate) praise of their scholastic accomplishments. As her children grew, she noted their travels, further education, careers, marriages, and finally, the births of her grandchildren.

Maggie's shared memories paint a rich tapestry of the family's history. Read a particularly humourous account of a young James Slater below.

"Slater noticed something moving inside his toy piano.
Being naturally inquisitive & of an investigating turn
of mind he proceeded to take the piano to pieces. However, he
couldn’t fit it together again.
Santa Claus having given him a tool set, he provided
material himself on which to saw. One day he sawed
every tooth out of a new large $1 comb before he was
seen. Another day he hammered his entire pewter
tea set in tiny bits."